The field of this invention is catalyst screening units, particularly of the type used for cleaning incoming feed catalyst prior to loading the same within a catalytic reactor.
In the loading of catalytic reactors, it is manifest that substantial care in cleaning catalyst be exercised for proper long-life reactor operation thereof. Since many catalysts contain costly noble metals, such catalysts are of considerable expense even when only a small portion thereof contains such noble metals. It, therefore, is extremely important that care be taken to prevent damage to fragile catalyst while cleaning the same prior to loading into a reactor. Thus, from both operational and economic viewpoints, it is of substantial importance that the catalyst not only be thoroughly cleaned of particles, such as broken catalyst, fines and dust, which interfere with proper reactor operation, but also care be taken to minimize attrition of costly catalysts when loading the same.
Prior art screening devices include those such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,685,651 and 3,250,389.